National Dog Bite Prevention Week Is May 17-23; California Has Largest Number of Claims, New York Has Highest Cost per Claim
MAY 13, 2015

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NEW YORK, May 14, 2015 — Dog bites (and other dog-related injuries) accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claim dollars paid out in 2014, costing in excess of $530 million, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) and State Farm®, the largest writer of homeowners insurance in the United States.

An analysis of homeowners insurance data by the I.I.I. found that while the number of dog bite claims nationwide decreased 4.7 percent in 2014, the average cost per Read the full article…

DES PLAINES, Ill.—The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today issued a warning to the public about an organized scam involving sales of vehicles through the popular online market Read the full article…

When it implements the new changes CEA will expand deductible options from today’s 10 or 15 percent, to choices of: 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 percent.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2016, CEA will also roll-out new hazard mitigation discounts ranging from 10 to 20 percent for eligible homeowners, upon verification that the house has been retrofitted in Read the full article…

California and North Carolina are the worst states in the nation for free market-promoting insurance regulation.

That’s the finding from the 2014 Insurance Regulation Report Card, issued by The R Street, a think tank promoting the values of “limited, effective and efficient government.”

In its annual review of insurance regulation across the country, the group assessed each state for proficiency in 12 areas, including ensuring carrier pricing flexibility; competitiveness in home, auto and workers’ comp markets; monitoring carrier solvency and efficiency. While it noted that some—like Florida—were making efforts to “scale back,” other states “appear to be moving in the wrong direction.”

Democratic state Sen. Richard Pan likely owes his Nov. 4 victory over Roger Dickinson in part to stronger support from the district’s Republican minority, according to a review of final Sacramento County election results.

The Democrat-on-Democrat race for the 6th Senate District was among the most competitive and expensive in the state. In the end, Pan won with 53.8 percent of the vote in the Sacramento-based district, where Democrats comprise 48.3 percent of registered voters, Republicans 24.9 percent, and no-party preference voters 21.6 percent.

There’s no way to tell how people of different party affiliations voted Nov. 4. But final election results from Sacramento County – which makes up 95 percent Read the full article…

Over the last few years, Uber and Airbnb have come to be known as leaders of something called the sharing economy.

Give their founders credit for this feat of mostly misplaced nomenclature. The companies help people sell rides in cars and rent stays in homes; they deserve no more credit for promoting a skill learned in preschool than Marriott or taxi companies.

But here’s one thing they do love to share: risk. Uber grew by heaping it on many drivers, asking them to push damage claims through their personal insurance companies while knowing that those companies did not cover commercial activity.

With a room full of freshly sworn-in state legislators looking back at her, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, offered a few hints on Monday of how this incoming legislative class will differ from those who have governed California in years past.

The man Atkins heralded as the longest-tenured “dean” of the Assembly – Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles – was elected in 2010. He is 40 years old. Atkins later instructed new members on the mechanics of voting.

“Please insert and turn the key now,” Atkins explained. “If you lift up the desk and look back there,” she added, “you’ll find a key.”